A Bite of China

Chinese cuisine is famous for its taste, look and smell. What do Chinese cook and how do they cook? Here are a fascinating series of videos introducing Chinese cuisine. A Bite of China. There are 7 episodes in total. Watching the series itself is a great enjoyment.

Episode 1: Gift of Nature
In different areas in China, nature has given people precious gifts: source of delicious food.

Episode 2: The Story of Staple Food
The size of the territory of China gives its people a wide variety of main food. In this episode, we can see a lot of different main food from different areas. Dumpling, Mantou, Momo, Chinese Bing (Chinese version of Pizza), rice, rice noodles, noodles, zongzi, niangao…all the delicious main food make Chinese cuisine so colorful.

Episode 3: The Inspiration of Transformation
Some of the typical Chinese food, such as Tofu (or bean curd), rice wine, pickled vegetables, cheese, sauces, is developed from another form of the food. Tofu is from soy beans, rice wine from rice, cheese from milk, sauces from beans — time and anaerobic fermentation play role in this magical transformation. How they were made, how they were made in different regions, this video offers a fantastic view towards these basic foods for Chinese people.

Episode 4: The Taste of Time
Time, enemy of food, is a friend for food at the same time. After the nurturing of time, lots of food develops into different ones with added taste- the taste of time. In this episode, we are led to have a view at kimchi, sausage, smoked bacon, Jinhua ham, bacon, salted fish, dried food esp. dried laver, and more. All the great taste, taste of salt, of mountains, of wind, of cloud, is the taste of time.

Episode 5: The Secret of Kitchen
What is the secret of Chinese kitchen? Is there any secret? This episode shows many aspects of Chinese kitchen in different areas in China – cooking pots and pans, cooking techniques, the level of fire, oil and water combination, ways of cutting, etc. So, what is the secret of Chinese cuisine?

Episode 6: Harmonization of Flavors
Sweet, salty, bitter and sour, the four tastes are produced when food is put into the mouth and reacts with the receptors of the taste bud. Chinese food is famous for its complexity of tastes. One taste can be dominant in one food; but many times, food has a combination of two or even more tastes, which makes it surprisingly delicious. This episode introduces all the four tastes used in Chinese cuisine. In addition, this episode mentions a taste which is difficult to describe but recognized by Dr. Kikunae Iked in Japan. This is so-called umami (鲜味). It is a taste widely enjoyed in Asia. So actually the Chinese cuisine is a mixture of 5 spices.

Episode 7:Our Farm
Where does food come from? From the fields, from the water. This episode shows us how Chinese people make best use of their regional resources for food: e. g how people living in the mountain areas in the south-west of China cultivate the limited land and produce the tasty sticky rice; how fishermen in the southern China fish seafood such sea cucumber, abalone, sea urchin; how people living in the downstream of the Yangtze River cultivate crabs and how people living in Tibetan plateau grow and harvest barley… Chinese people have great respect for nature. When harvest comes, celebrations follow. Celebrations are another interesting part of this episode.